This invention relates generally to car door opening tools, and more particularly to a device which can unlock a car door from the outside despite the fact that the locking bar located within the door has been covered with a protective inner shell as an anti-theft device.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is often necessary for car doors to be unlocked without a set of keys. Not only is this ability necessary for persons who have locked their keys within their car, it is also necessary for tow truck operators and police in order to enter a locked car for the purpose of moving it. Often, a person is left with the sole option of breaking one of the car windows to gain access.
The initial attempts at opening car doors from the outside began with a coat hanger-type device. This coat hanger device would be inserted in between the window frame and the window and would be guided back to the door lock. The hanger type device then would grasp the door lock and pull it up. Auto makers circumvented this method by inserting either child proof locks or locks without any means to be grasped with a coat hanger type device.
The next development was the use of the slim jim. The slim jim is merely a strip of metal with notches placed in it. This strip is placed in between the window and the door frame from the outside and slid in until it hooks the locking mechanism. The slim jim would then be pulled up and the door would be unlocked. Auto makers circumvented this method by replacing old pivotal-type locking systems with new horizontal locking bar systems.
The next attempt was made using a wire-type device that would fit in between the window and the outer door shell. These devices have hooks at the end whereby the wire would be inserted in between the window and the outer door shell and twisted in a manner so that the hook would grasp onto the locking bar. After the lock bar was grasped by the hook, the device would be twisted to provide friction in-between the hook and the locking bar. The device would then be moved laterally by pulling on string attached to the hook to unlock the door. Auto makers circumvented this method by replacing the horizontal bar system with a vertical locking system and placing a protective inner shell in between the outer shell and the lock mechanism. Even if the device was placed in between the window and the outer shell, the inner shell prevented the device from coming into contact with the locking mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,778 issued to B. Waring on Mar. 20, 1979, discloses a device whereby a strip of metal is bent back against itself to form an acute angle between the long member and the shorter member. A wire is threaded through the long member and attaches to the end of the short member. At the end of the short member a notch is made. This device is inserted into the car door in between the window and the door shell. The short member is allowed to extend away from the long member by allowing slack on the wire. The notch at the end grasps the door lock and the device is pulled up and the door is unlocked. Recently, manufacturers of certain cars, particularly General Motors cars, have inserted the inner shell in between the outer shell and the door lock mechanism. The Waring device would not work because it would never be able to reach the lock mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,886 issed to R. Bolton on Sept. 2, 1986, discloses one of the previously mentioned hook type devices. The inner shell that car makers have placed into the car doors precludes this device this from working. Further, this device depends upon the hook being able to grasp the locking bar. The inner shell covers the locking bar and prevents the device from doing so.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,783 issued to V. Fanberg on Aug. 4, 1987, discloses a device very similar to the Bolton device. Therefore, it has the same flaw of not being able to penetrate the inner shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,102 issued to D. Parkins on Apr. 7, 1987, discloses a device that is basically a wire device with a saw-teeth member placed on its tip. This device is inserted in between the outer shell and into the car door interior and the saw-teeth member grasps the locking bar. This device will not work on the models that have the inner shell. The hole that is in the inner shell is far below the locking mechanism. Therefore, the Parkins device would never reach the locking mechanism because the device requires the hole to be in line with the locking mechanism.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device to unlock car doors from the outside which can work in spite of the inner shell in between the outer shell and the lock mechanism.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a device that will unlock car doors quickly and efficiently.